Just bought a WB tonner

**HK1837** · 17-01-2012, 06:29 AM

Have to go to Toowoomba on Friday to pick the ugly piece of cr@p up.

I just bought it for the mechanicals: 327, TH400, 2.78 LSD, HQ Chev air and Steer. I want the engine for my red HK, rest will be a combination of being stored, scrapped or taken to Oz's for wrecking. Has a few good other things like Caprice front bar, WB Chev radiator and shroud, Chev into HQ-WB extractors. Seats might be OK (interior appears to be HJ or HX Statesman).

**wbute** · 17-01-2012, 07:23 AM

Worlds best, what can I say. Even HK1837 buys them lol!

**HK1837** · 17-01-2012, 08:14 AM

I had about 15 of them at one stage when I had a wreckers licence! When i moved I sold all the WB stuff, filled up a whole removalist's pantech truck!

Wouldn't have mattered if this was a WB or a HQ. I just bought it for the engine. There would be lucky to be 30 x early type HK GTS327 made in the Acacia Ridge plant and I own one of them. I had a Pagewood and also a Dandenong engine for the car but they just aren't right. This one turned up so I grabbed it. It is a few weeks early for my car (mine is late August, the first batch of 327 engines were used in July to mid August cars at Acacia Ridge) but it is as close as i'll ever find. I've only ever seen one other, and it was in a GMH assembled Pontiac, and even then they have a different engine number suffix so not right for a HK.

**HK1837** · 21-01-2012, 11:54 PM

Got to Toowoomba this morning. Engine had been restamped. Very good job, but I could tell. It appeared to simply have been a case of an engine shop had decked it and put the number back, but it was enough for me to walk away and drive back home.

I stopped at a garage sale on the way back and bought a set of 4 x 4.75" PCD 14x7" Globe Hurricanes (1974 date coded by the looks of it) and 2 x 15" Commodore rims with good 225/60/15 tyres for my trailer plus an original HQ-WB commercial jack (blue one).

**playwme** · 22-01-2012, 08:28 PM

Bugger. That's a long way to go on a wild goose chase.

**HK1837** · 22-01-2012, 08:47 PM

I doubt I could have picked it from a photo either. Damn nice engine too, ran like a dream. Would be perfect for a street car but you can't use a restamp in an original GTS327 and expect it to be worth having. Wouldn't matter in a tonner or anything else.

**83 WB_Ute** · 22-01-2012, 10:01 PM

Is it now listed on ebay??? There is a WB 1 tonner on there with a 327 in it... The guy says he was told it was a 350, but he could tell that it was a 327...

**HK1837** · 23-01-2012, 06:03 AM

That is the car.

**83 WB_Ute** · 23-01-2012, 09:06 AM

Originally Posted by HK1837

That is the car.

Yeah, I thought so... It's fairly cheap if it was a good original block...

**HK1837** · 23-01-2012, 10:05 AM

It is still cheap if you want a good driveline for a HQ-WB. The Chev sounded good, TH400 seemed to shift alright. Diff is an LSD, has tailshaft and crossmember to suit TH400. Seats were original Chamois with cloth faces put in , in good nick. Has Chev A/C and power steering. Radiator is a 4 row HQ-HZ grafted to the WB support. Body and chaasis are shot though. Even the dash was useful, it was the HJ-HX Statesman style with the cluster guage. Had Motorvator extractors and a decent exhaust too.